Can we Escape!? God's Ordeals are Set in Motion!

Labeled as fugitives, the Straw Hats debate their next move, and Nami talks the group into leaving. Luffy resists, refusing to set off before he has seen the Upper Yard. On his way out he secures the leftover food from Pagaya's house and pulls Sanji along to fix lunches, while Usopp collects whatever might be useful for repairing a vessel. That trio walks toward Conis' home, and the remaining crew members head back to the ship.

At the ship, Conis describes a special cloud capable of carrying them swiftly beyond the White Sea and on to Cloud End. Nami, delighted, wants to be gone before Luffy notices and tells everyone to weigh anchor. Robin alone questions whether so convenient a current truly exists, since Skypieans would otherwise settle in the Blue Sea, but Nami and Chopper wave off the doubt, and Chopper raises the anchor through Heavy Point. Without warning the ship lurches into motion. Luffy thinks it amusing that the vessel glides backward, until Usopp points to a shadow beneath the hull dragging them along. Pagaya names the culprit as a creature of enormous speed serving the god. After the swordsman severs it, Robin urges him to halt, warning that more pursuers will follow and this is only the beginning of Heaven's Judgment.

From the land side, Pagaya tells Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji that the captured crew is almost certainly bound for the Sacrificial Altar in the Upper Yard, where the judged are handed one of two heavenly verdicts: serving as the offering or facing the ordeal. He maps out the path to the altar, and Luffy decides that beating the priests is all it takes, finding the situation exciting. The installment is the first to close with the theme FAITH, and a continuity error shows Nami alternately barefoot and in sandals as the creature hauls the Going Merry away.